Bettina Brownstein moved the proposed minutes for the PAC meeting of August 20, 2016 be approved. Dorcas Johnson seconded and the motion passed.

Election of Officers

TaVonda Williams’ term as Recording Secretary had expired. She expressed willingness to continue in the role. Bettina Brownstein moved that Ms. Williams be re-elected as Recording Secretary of the PAIMI Advisory Council. Brenda Martin seconded and the motion passed

Council Procedures Work Group

Tom Masseau said the PAIMI Advisory Council Operating Procedures needed to be updated. He noted Ms. Brownstein had already begun this work and recommended that a work group be formed to complete a draft revision. Dorcas Johnson and Tina Light volunteered to join Ms. Brownstein in the effort. John Jones said he would arrange a conference call soon to get this started.

Staff/Services Report

Mr. Masseau reported on some DRA personnel changes, adding that a new hire, Jackie Gordon, has experience with Medicaid issues, which will enhance the agency’s ability to advocate for individuals regarding these issues.

Mr. Masseau reported that PAIMI has continued to see a lot of problems for children/youth with mental illness or serious emotional disturbance in public schools, especially inappropriate seclusion/restraint and expulsion. This is a statewide issue that will be addressed with a white paper, followed by informing legislators.

Another statewide issue is the lack of adequate mental health treatment for persons locked up in county jails. Many stakeholders are supporting an initiative to create jail diversion programs in several parts of the state.

John Jones reported on problems that resulted in the PAIMI Leadership Retreat being less successful than had been hoped. He said that changes in the focus of the retreat in the months before it was held had a negative impact. It was initially intended for CMHC Consumer Advisory Council (CAC) members, then changed to team-building to begin integrating the CACs with the Arkansas Behavioral Health Planning Advisory Council (ABHPAC.) This was thwarted when the state withdrew all funding for ABHPAC.

Mr. Jones said that the weeklong tour of several Arkansas colleges and universities by Oryx Cohen, accompanying his movie Healing Voices was being re-scheduled for the spring of 2017.

Review of the FY 2016 PAIMI Program Performance Report (PPR)

Mr. Jones distributed a PPR data overview of service information recorded in the last three PPRs. He said the total clients served in FY16 (128) represented a 71% increase in two years from the FY14 total of 75. He pointed to two areas of concern: First, there were almost no persons who identified as being of Hispanic/Latino origin being served during the three-year period. Mr. Jones recommended the Council consider recruiting one or more individuals who identified as Hispanic/Latino for Council membership. These individuals could help guide PAIMI outreach in this area.

The second concern discussed by Mr. Jones was the overwhelming preponderance of Special Education issues in the reported FY16 PAIMI caseload. He cautioned that this might be at least partially explained as a data entry artifact, as issues that would be coded “Abuse” or “Neglect” in another setting might be entered into the database as “Rights Violation/Special Education” if they were reported in a public school. He cited the fact that the percentage of PAIMI clients of school age showed a relatively small increase between FY15 and FY16, while the number of Special Education case problems showed over a 100% increase in the same period.

Council members completed the first draft of the PAIMI Advisory Council Program Performance Report. Tom will incorporate comments from today’s meeting into the draft. The draft PPR will be forwarded to council members within the next couple of weeks for final approval. Once the draft is finalized, Veronica will sign the document on behalf of the Council.

The next meeting of the Council was set for Saturday, March 18, 2017.

There being no other business, the Council adjourned at 1:38 pm.

Related

Disability Rights Arkansas (DRA) is the independent, private, nonprofit organization designated by the Governor of Arkansas to implement the federally funded and authorized Protection and Advocacy systems throughout the state. DRA services include information and referral, short-term assistance, technical assistance, legal representation, systemic advocacy, monitoring, and training. DRA services are provided free-of-charge. DRA is independent from state and local government.

Through the leadership of its Governing Board and Advisory Councils, DRA staff provides services to children and adults with disabilities throughout Arkansas. We strive to serve our clients’ expressed wishes.